R. Kelly gives us the same old, same old in his new album. Photo: Ade Johnson/EPA/Corbis

Albums of the Week

R. Kelly
“Black Panties”
★★

People who talk about sex all the time grow tiresome, and R. Kelly isn’t any different. Whether he’s offering to “Marry the Pu- -y” (“This is a sex proposal,” he sings) or claiming that “Every child around the world from the ’90s up until today was made off me” in “Shut Up” (he means they were made to his music, thank heavens), even the most ostentatiously silly moments of his 12th album end up dragging thanks to the turgid music. All those mid-tempo synths turn it into a mood piece that lacks the variety that gave albums like 2003’s “Chocolate Factory” their snap.

Neil Young
“Live at the Cellar Door”
★★½

On the one hand, this 1970 solo, acoustic set from a Washington, DC, club is well recorded, and Young’s performances are alert and felt. On the other hand, Young has issued a lot of live albums from this period, the songs are all familiar, and aside from “Flying on the Ground Is Wrong,” none of these versions beat what’s already available. We already know the songs are great. “Cinnamon Girl” on piano instead of guitar is cool, but not revelatory. If this were the only Neil Young album, it would be invaluable — but it’s not.

Downloads of the Week

will.i.am
“Feelin’ Myself”
★

Partying should be fun, right? But will.i.am and a grab bag of stars — Miley Cyrus, French Montana, Wiz Khalifa and DJ Mustard — make having a good time sound like a bunch of drudgery. Who’d want to be in the club with them when their beats are this uneventful, their rhymes are this rote and their self-importance is this stifling?

7 Days of Funk
“Faden Away”
★★★

Playing this time out as Snoopzilla, Snoop Dogg has long been a more likable crooner than rapper, and this team-up with LA synth-funk maestro Dam-Funk (from their eight-song self-titled release) is a sweet early-’80s throwback. It’s slight but a lot more enjoyable — not to mention alert — than Snoop’s unfortunate forays into reggae.

Zac Brown Band
“Sweet Annie”
★★

From “The Grohl Sessions: Vol. 1,” a four-song EP produced by main Foo Fighter Dave Grohl, these Grammy-winning nice-guy country-rockers sing a mellow, heartfelt ode to a loved one. Hello? Are you awake? Well, nice as it is, listening to this isn’t going to help keep you that way.

Childish Gambino
“3005”
★½

Don’t dismiss rapper and singer Childish Gambino because his other job is being stand-up comedian and actor Donald Glover. Dismiss him because his music is utterly negligible. This single — from Gambino’s third album, bearing the awful title “Because the Internet” — mainly confirms that we already have one Drake, thanks.

Avan Lava
“So F*kt Up”
★★★½

A sleek synth-pop band from Brooklyn, led by the big-voiced TC, Avan Lava put out an exuberant EP in 2012. This new stand-alone single takes a more sinister turn — dark, self-pitying, computer-driven R&B in the style of the Weeknd, except sweeter and smarter and way better sung. Album, please.